CHICAGO — Twins assistant hitting coach Trevor Amicone first encountered the torpedo bat three or four years ago while working in the New York Yankees’ minor league system.
He’s not necessarily sure that the idea originated with the Yankees, but he does know that Aaron Leanhardt, formerly a MIT physicist who was the Yankees’ minor league hitting coordinator at the time, went “above and beyond” to implement the idea and get players to use it.
The torpedo bat has been the talk of Major League Baseball in the early going of this season after the Yankees belted nine home runs on Saturday, many of which came with the bat. There has been plenty of intrigue within the Twins’ clubhouse, too.
The barrel of the torpedo bat is shifted about six inches closer to the handle, and the bat is designed to put more mass in the area that connects with the ball.
“It’s hitters. Hitters are going to be very curious about what they’re putting in their hands,” Amicone said. “Hitters are curious creatures. Right now, they’re curious about this.”
Amicone said he didn’t introduce the bat to Twins players — rather, he has been a resource for those who have asked him about it. A number of Twins players tried the bat out during spring training and came away with mixed opinions. Shortstop Carlos Correa said he isn’t sure yet whether it’s for him or not after using it for one game this spring.
“I’d have to try it a little bit more. But I had a good year last year with my bat, so that’s why it’s hard for me to go … and change bats,” Correa said.
There was one taker within the clubhouse.
“For me, I’m giving it a little bit of a trial period, see how I like it,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “The thoughts behind them seem good, but I think there’s still a lot of trial and error with it. It’s so new.”
Jeffers has been using the bats early this season after trying them out this spring. He said he first encountered them when the bat companies came with demo bats, swung them a few times and decided to order a couple. The catcher said he can’t feel a difference when swinging.
“This game is always evolving, and I’ve had conversations about, ‘OK, pitchers are always getting better. They’re always inventing new pitches. What’s that going to be for hitters?’ ” Jeffers said. “Maybe it’s something in the bat tech. Maybe it’s this. Maybe it’s not this. Maybe it’s something completely different. But I’m always down to try something that could make me better.”
Twins on TV
The Twins announced Tuesday that they would return to over-the-air television for the first time since 2012.
The Twins, FOX 9 and Gray Media announced a multi-year deal on Tuesday to broadcast 10 regular-season games per season. All will be on Tuesday night, starting on April 15. All of these games will also be available via Twins.TV.
Additionally, five more Twins games will be on FOX national’s Saturday broadcast, meaning 15 total games will be aired on FOX 9.
Briefly
Pablo López is scheduled to make the second start of his season on Wednesday against White Sox righty Sean Burke. … The weather forecast for Wednesday afternoon calls for storms in Chicago.
